


Counting Stars

by Blueberryshortcake



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Comfort, Cuddles, Gen, Nightmare Comfort, fluff week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-07
Updated: 2018-04-07
Packaged: 2019-04-19 14:58:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14239776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blueberryshortcake/pseuds/Blueberryshortcake
Summary: Someone has a nightmare. Sharing a bed with a friend can help a lot.





	Counting Stars

Wash stared at the ceiling.

It didn’t matter where he was, sleep was never going to be easy ever again. Less nightmares now, but it was hard to turn his brain off.

His door creaked open.

Wash tensed. A large figure entered. Wash’s fingers slipped under his pillow and touched the knife, but didn’t pull it. He recognized the muffled sobs.

He waited. Suddenly the covers were being pulled up.

“Caboose?” he whispered.

The quiet sniffles stifled. Caboose stiffened.

“Oh no,” He said quietly. He jerked back, trying to untangle himself from Wash’s blankets and ended up falling on the floor.

“Oof–I’m okay.”  
  
“Caboose?” Wash flicked on his bedside lamp. Caboose looked up at him miserably.

“I made a mistake,” Caboose said.

Wash frowned. He had no idea what any of this was about, and then put some of it together.

“You forgot it was me in here?” Wash asked gently.

Caboose nodded, ashamed.

“It’s okay. Honest mistake,” Wash placated. “Did…uh…you sleep with Church a lot?”

“When I have nightmares,” Caboose said, not really moving from his spot on the floor now. “He pretended not to notice and be asleep, but I knew he wasn’t because he would snore when he was asleep. He would complain in the morning, but that was… that was okay.”

Wash sighed. He lifted the covers. “Alright.”

Caboose looked up, “–Really?”

Wash nodded tiredly. Caboose quickly nestled under the covers, Wash clicked off the light again.

“You had a bad dream?” Wash asked. Caboose took up most of the narrow bed, but he arranged himself comfortably curled up. Caboose’s head pressed against his shoulder.

He remembered when he was a kid, crawling into Mama’s bed after bad dreams, or his sister’s if she was at work. It always felt safer that way. Wash wasn’t about to deny Caboose a feeling of safety.

“Yeah,” Caboose agreed. “It was bad. I did not like it.”

“Do you need to talk about it?” Wash pressed gently.

“No,” Caboose answered. “This is good. I feel better,” He snuggled closer. “You really don’t mind, Agent Washington?”

“No, I don’t mind,” Wash reassured.

Caboose shifted. Tossed and turned.

“Having trouble sleeping?”

“I’m sorry. I’m keeping you up,” Caboose shifted about to get out of the bed.

“No, you aren’t.” He wrapped his hand around Caboose’s wrist. “It’s okay, you can stay.”

Caboose rolled back closer cuddling against him.

“Thank you Agent Washington.”

He kept fidgeting though.

Wash thought back to when he was a kid. Caboose wasn’t a kid but… maybe he missed out on this sort of thing? Or maybe he just needed that sort of comfort right now.

Very quietly Wash started singing. It was an ancient pop song slowed down to sound like a lullabye. That’s what Mama used to do.

Caboose settled, his arm flung over Wash’s chest. After a few refrains he started singing too, soft and slow like Wash until he started missing words, and then he started breathing deep and even.

Wash went back to staring up at the ceiling.

He wondered if Mama felt safer too when he would sleep in her bed…


End file.
